List of New Japan Pro-Wrestling tournaments
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Japan Pro-Wrestling had held a variety of professional wrestling tournaments competed for by wrestlers that are a part of their roster.
Sporadic tournaments
Pin-Pinfall; Sub-Submission; CO-Countout; DCO-Double countout; DQ-Disqualification; DDQ-Double Disqualification Ref-Referee's decision; NC-No Contest
1974 Karl Gotch Cup
The 1974 Karl Gotch Cup was a round-robin tournament held from October 25 until December 8.[1] The tournament featured 8 participants. The tournament was held during the Toukon Series II tour. The winner of the tournament was Tatsumi Fujinami, who defeated Masashi Ozawa to win the tournament. Fujinami would later become a Japanese legend having success in both the junior heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. He would later become a six times IWGP Heavyweight Champion and also won the G1 Climax. Later he was abroad, to Mexico's Universal Wrestling Association and to Jim Crockett Promotions in the U.S.
| Masashi Ozawa | 7 |
|---|---|
| Tatsumi Fujinami | 7 |
| Takashi Kimura | 6 |
| Yoshiaki Fujiwara | 5 |
| Makoto Arakawa | 3.5 |
| Masanobu Kurisu | 3.5 |
| Little Hamada | 3 |
| Donald Takeshi | 1 |
| Daigoro Oshiro | 0 |
| Final | ||||
| 1 | Masashi Ozawa | 10:37 | ||
| 2 | Tatsumi Fujinami | Pin | ||
Vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship tournament
A tournament for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship was held on April 24, 1989.
Kyushu Cup
The Kyushu Cup was a four-man tournament, which took place on June 12, 1990.[2]
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||
| Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||
| Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||
| Keiji Mutoh | |||||||||
| Keiji Mutoh | |||||||||
| Masahiro Chono | |||||||||
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament
Single elimination tournament that took place in a single night on September 27, 1994 to crown a new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion after reigning champion Jushin Thunder Liger suffered an ankle injury.[3]
- Results
| Round 1 | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Norio Honaga | ||||||||||||||
| Gran Hamada | 10:48 | |||||||||||||
| Norio Honaga | ||||||||||||||
| Shinjiro Otani | 12:30 | |||||||||||||
| Shinjiro Otani | ||||||||||||||
| BYE | ||||||||||||||
| Norio Honaga | ||||||||||||||
| Wild Pegasus | 12:34 | |||||||||||||
| Black Tiger | ||||||||||||||
| El Samurai | 9:27 | |||||||||||||
| Black Tiger | ||||||||||||||
| Wild Pegasus | 10:40 | |||||||||||||
| Wild Pegasus | ||||||||||||||
| BYE | ||||||||||||||
Japan/US All Star Tournament
The Japan/US All Star Tournament was an interpromotional single-elimination tournament pitting NJPW wrestlers against World Championship Wrestling wrestlers. The tournament took place during the 1996 G1 Climax.[4]
| First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||||||||
| Marcus Alexander Bagwell | |||||||||||||||
| Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||||||||
| Lord Steven Regal | |||||||||||||||
| Satoshi Kojima | |||||||||||||||
| Lord Steven Regal | |||||||||||||||
| Shinya Hashimoto | |||||||||||||||
| Shiro Koshinaka | |||||||||||||||
| Shiro Koshinaka | |||||||||||||||
| Hugh Morrus | |||||||||||||||
| Shiro Koshinaka | |||||||||||||||
| Sting | |||||||||||||||
| Masahiro Chono | |||||||||||||||
| Sting | |||||||||||||||
| Shiro Koshinaka | |||||||||||||||
| Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||||||||
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | |||||||||||||||
| Arn Anderson | |||||||||||||||
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan | |||||||||||||||
| Scott Norton | |||||||||||||||
| Riki Choshu | |||||||||||||||
| Scott Norton | |||||||||||||||
| Scott Norton | |||||||||||||||
| Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||||||||
| Ric Flair | |||||||||||||||
| Tatsumi Fujinami | |||||||||||||||
| Ric Flair | |||||||||||||||
| Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||||||||
| Kensuke Sasaki | |||||||||||||||
| Lex Luger | |||||||||||||||
G2 U-30 Climax Tournament 2003
The G2 U-30 Climax Tournament 2003 was a tournament.[5]
Yuko Six Man Tag Team Tournament
The Yuko Six Man Tag Team Tournament was a tournament.[6]
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Ryota Chikuzen, Katsuyori Shibata and Mitsuya Nagai | |||||||||
| Hiro Saito, Tatsutoshi Goto and Toru Yano | 9:40 | ||||||||
| Ryota Chikuzen, Katsuyori Shibata and Mitsuya Nagai | |||||||||
| Blue Wolf, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Shinsuke Nakamura | 11:15 | ||||||||
| Blue Wolf, Katsuhiko Nakajima and Shinsuke Nakamura | |||||||||
| Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Yutaka Yoshie | 15:03 | ||||||||
President Hoshino 10 Million Yen Offer Tag Tournament
The President Hoshino 10 Million Yen Offer Tag Tournament was a tournament.[7]
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Katsuyori Shibata and Masahiro Chono | |||||||||
| Genichiro Tenryu and Kensuke Sasaki | 17:53 | ||||||||
| Katsuyori Shibata and Masahiro Chono | |||||||||
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Shinsuke Nakamura | 19:28 | ||||||||
| Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Shinsuke Nakamura | |||||||||
| Mitsuya Nagai and Toshiaki Kawada | 20:53 | ||||||||
U-30 One Night Tag Tournament
The U-30 One Night Tag Tournament was a tournament.[8]
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Ryusuke Taguchi and Shinsuke Nakamura | |||||||||
| Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata | 11:44 | ||||||||
| Ryusuke Taguchi and Shinsuke Nakamura | |||||||||
| Hiroshi Tanahashi and Taiji Ishimori | 14:49 | ||||||||
| Hiroshi Tanahashi and Taiji Ishimori | |||||||||
| Blue Wolf and Katsuhiko Nakajima | 13:30 | ||||||||
Samurai! TV Openweight Tag Team Tournament
The Samurai! TV Openweight Tag Team Tournament was a tournament.[9]
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| Shinsuke Nakamura and Wataru Inoue | |||||||||
| Minoru Tanaka and Togi Makabe | 13:03 | ||||||||
| Shinsuke Nakamura and Wataru Inoue | |||||||||
| Hirooki Goto and Yuji Nagata | 21:03 | ||||||||
| Hirooki Goto and Yuji Nagata | |||||||||
| Hiroshi Tanahashi and Koji Kanemoto | 15:08 | ||||||||
Yuke's Cup PREMIUM One Night Tag Tournament
The Yuke's Cup PREMIUM One Night Tag Tournament was a tournament.[10]
J Sports Crown Openweight Six Man Tag Team Tournament 2010
The J Sports Crown Openweight Six Man Tag Team Tournament 2010 was a tournament.[11]
J Sports Crown Openweight Six Man Tag Team Tournament 2011
The J Sports Crown Openweight Six Man Tag Team Tournament 2011 was a tournament.[12]
IWGP Intercontinental Championship Tournament
On April 8, 2011, NJPW announced the participants in the tournament to crown the first IWGP Intercontinental Champion. The list of participants included former World Wrestling Entertainment performer MVP, who had signed a contract with NJPW in January 2011, Kazuchika Okada, who had been on a learning excursion to American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) since February 2010, Hideo Saito, who had been on a similar tour of Puerto Rican World Wrestling Council since September 2010, former IWGP Tag Team and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi of No Limit, NJPW regulars Tama Tonga and Toru Yano and American independent worker Dan Maff, who made his first appearance for NJPW during the tour.[13] On May 6 it was announced that Tonga had suffered an injury, which would force him out of the tournament. He would be replaced by former TNA and Ring of Honor performer Josh Daniels.[14] On May 15, MVP defeated Yano in the final of the tournament to become the inaugural champion.[15]
- Tournament bracket
| Round One (May 13) | Semifinals (May 14) | Final (May 15) | ||||||||||||
| MVP | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Kazuchika Okada | 12:45[16] | |||||||||||||
| MVP | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Tetsuya Naito | 10:57[17] | |||||||||||||
| Josh Daniels | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Tetsuya Naito | 12:28[16] | |||||||||||||
| MVP | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Toru Yano | 09:27[15] | |||||||||||||
| Dan Maff | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Toru Yano | 10:38[16] | |||||||||||||
| Toru Yano | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Yujiro Takahashi | 07:47[17] | |||||||||||||
| Hideo Saito | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Yujiro Takahashi | 08:28[16] | |||||||||||||
NEVER Openweight Championship Tournament
On October 5, 2012, over two years after the founding of NEVER, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced the creation of the project's first championship, the NEVER Openweight Championship.[18][19][20] The title was originally created with the idea of using it to "elevate younger wrestlers".[21] The first champion was to be determined in a sixteen-man single-elimination tournament, which was set to take place November 15 and 19, 2012.[22][23] The title and the tournament were announced by New Japan president Naoki Sugabayashi and NEVER regular Tetsuya Naito,[19][20] who was scheduled to enter the tournament, but was forced to pull out after suffering a knee injury.[24] Much like regular NEVER events, the tournament also featured wrestlers not signed to New Japan; freelancer Daisuke Sasaki, Hiro Tonai, Kengo Mashimo, Ryuichi Sekine, Shiori Asahi and Taishi Takizawa from Kaientai Dojo, and Masato Tanaka from Pro Wrestling Zero1.[22][23] The entire first round of the tournament took place on November 15 and saw Shiori Asahi, Yoshi-Hashi, Taishi Takizawa, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomohiro Ishii, Kengo Mashimo, Karl Anderson and Masato Tanaka advance.[25][26] The rest of the tournament took place four days later. During the second round, Kengo Mashimo defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Karl Anderson defeated Shiori Asahi, Masato Tanaka defeated Taishi Takizawa, Tomohiro Ishii defeated Yoshi-Hashi.[27][28] The semifinals saw Anderson defeat Mashimo and Tanaka defeat Ishii.[27][28] In the final of the tournament, Tanaka, the 39-year-old, who, despite officially being affiliated with Pro Wrestling Zero1, had worked for NJPW regularly since August 2009, defeated Anderson to become the inaugural NEVER Openweight Champion.[27][28][29][30] Though the title was originally designed to be defended at NEVER events, NJPW has not held a single NEVER event since the championship tournament.[21]
| First round (November 15) | Second round (November 19) | Semifinals (November 19) | Final (November 19) | ||||||||||||
| Karl Anderson | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Yujiro Takahashi | 11:12[25] | ||||||||||||||
| Karl Anderson | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Shiori Asahi | 03:59[27] | ||||||||||||||
| Hiromu Takahashi | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Shiori Asahi | 06:14[25] | ||||||||||||||
| Karl Anderson | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Kengo Mashimo | 06:14[27] | ||||||||||||||
| Ryusuke Taguchi | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Hiro Tonai | 08:19[25] | ||||||||||||||
| Ryusuke Taguchi | Sub | ||||||||||||||
| Kengo Mashimo | 07:54[27] | ||||||||||||||
| Bushi | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Kengo Mashimo | 08:02[25] | ||||||||||||||
| Karl Anderson | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Masato Tanaka | 15:12[27] | ||||||||||||||
| Kushida | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Masato Tanaka | 13:02[25] | ||||||||||||||
| Masato Tanaka | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Taishi Takizawa | 04:28[27] | ||||||||||||||
| Captain New Japan | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Taishi Takizawa | 07:22[25] | ||||||||||||||
| Masato Tanaka | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Tomohiro Ishii | 10:47[27] | ||||||||||||||
| Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Daisuke Sasaki | 08:39[25] | ||||||||||||||
| Tomohiro Ishii | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Yoshi-Hashi | 06:57[27] | ||||||||||||||
| Yoshi-Hashi | Pin | ||||||||||||||
| Ryuichi Sekine | 07:14[25] | ||||||||||||||
Vacant NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
On August 1, 2020, NJPW announced a tournament to crown new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions.[31]
| 1st Round (August 6, 7) | Semifinals (August 8) | Final (August 9) | ||||||||||||
| Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & Sho) | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Bullet Club (Gedo, Jado, & Yujiro Takahashi) | 12:03 | |||||||||||||
| Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & Sho) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Los Ingobernables de Japón (Shingo Takagi, Bushi, & Sanada) | 13:07 | |||||||||||||
| Los Ingobernables de Japón (Shingo Takagi, Bushi, & Sanada) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, & Douki) | 13:37 | |||||||||||||
| Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, & Sho) | 24:18 | |||||||||||||
| Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Yoshi-Hashi) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, & Master Wato | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) | 16:53 | |||||||||||||
| Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, & Master Wato | 17:11 | |||||||||||||
| Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Yoshi-Hashi) | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, & Ryusuke Taguchi | 11:53 | |||||||||||||
| Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Yoshi-Hashi) | Sub | |||||||||||||
Inaugural KOPW Championship
NJPW announced a tournament to Crown the inaugural KOPW Champion.
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Desperado defeated Satoshi Kojima by disqualification | No finisher match | 14:13 |
| 2 | Toru Yano defeated Bushi | Two-count Pinfalls match | 4:44 |
| 3 | Sanada defeated Sho by submission | Submission match | 19:37 |
| 4 | Kazuchika Okada defeated Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi, Jado, & Gedo) by submission | 1 vs 3 handicap match | 15:26 |
Vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
On August 31, 2020, NJPW announced a league tournament to crown new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions on the New Japan Road tour.[32]
| El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru | 4 |
|---|---|
| Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi | 4 |
| Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato | 2 |
| Taiji Ishimori and Gedo | 2 |
| Results | Taguchi and Wato | Bushi and Takahashi | Desperado and Kanemaru | Ishimori and Gedo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taguchi and Wato | – | Takahashi and Bushi (18:02)[33] |
Taguchi and Wato (13:26)[34] |
Ishimori and Gedo (14:34)[35] |
| Bushi and Takahashi | Bushi and Takahashi (18:02)[33] |
– | Desperado and Kanemaru (17:15)[35] |
Bushi and Takahashi (20:54)[34] |
| Desperado and Kanemaru | Taguchi and Wato (13:26)[34] |
Desperado and Kanemaru (17:15)[35] |
– | Desperado and Kanemaru (16:48)[33] |
| Ishimori and Gedo | Ishimori and Gedo (14:34)[35] |
Bushi and Takahashi (20:54)[34] |
Desperado and Kanemaru (16:48)[33] |
– |
| Final | ||||
| 1 | Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) | Pin | ||
| 2 | Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi) | 17:12[36] | ||
Lion's Break Crown
Lion's Break Crown was a tournament that took place between September 25, 2020 and October 9, 2020 on NJPW Strong.
| Round 1 (September 25) | Semifinals (October 2) | Final (October 9) | ||||||||||||
| Logan Riegel | Pin | |||||||||||||
| The DKC | 6:31 | |||||||||||||
| Logan Riegel | 7:51 | |||||||||||||
| Clark Connors | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Clark Connors | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Jordan Clearwater | 6:11 | |||||||||||||
| Clark Connors | Sub | |||||||||||||
| Danny Limelight | 12:36 | |||||||||||||
| Danny Limelight | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Barrett Brown | 9:31 | |||||||||||||
| Danny Limelight | Pin | |||||||||||||
| Blake Christian | 7:54 | |||||||||||||
| Adrian Quest | 6:49 | |||||||||||||
| Blake Christian | Pin | |||||||||||||
Annually held tournaments
| Tournament | Last winner(s) | Last held | Type | Created | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 Climax | Konosuke Takeshita | August 17, 2025 | Heavyweight | 1974 | NJPW's biggest annual tournament, primarily for heavyweights but there is no official weight limit. Mostly in a round-robin format[Note 1] |
| World Tag League | TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr. and Ryohei Oiwa) |
December 14, 2025 | Tag team | 1980 | NJPW's annual tag team round-robin tournament.[Note 2] |
| New Japan Cup | Callum Newman | March 21, 2026 | Openweight | 2005 | Single-elimination tournament |
| Best of the Super Juniors | Yoh | June 7, 2026 | Junior heavyweight | 1988 | Annual round-robin tournament featuring top junior heavyweights from all over the world. |
| Super J-Cup | El Phantasmo | December 12, 2020 | Junior heavyweight | 1994 | Sporadic single-elimination tournament featuring top junior heavyweights from all over the world. The tournament has been hosted by other promotions than NJPW as well. |
| Super Jr. Tag League | House of Torture (Sho and Douki) |
November 2, 2025 | Junior heavyweight tag team | 2010 | Sporadic tournament featuring junior heavyweight tag teams from all over the world.[Note 3] |
Footnotes
- Before the G1 Climax, NJPW had had an annual single tournament since 1974 under various names: the World League (1974–77), the Madison Square Garden (MSG) League (1978–82), the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) League (1983–88) and the World Cup Tournament (1989).
- Before the World Tag League, NJPW had had an annual tag tournament since 1980 under various names; the Madison Square Garden (MSG) Tag League (1980–85), the Japan Cup Tag League (1986–87), the Super Grade Tag League (1991–98) and the G1 Tag League (1999–2011).
- NJPW has previously held similar tournaments for junior heavyweight tag teams, the first being the Junior Heavyweight Super Grade Tag League in 1996, won by Eddie Guerrero as Black Tiger II and The Great Sasuke. They also held the G1 Junior Tag League in 2001: it was won by El Samurai and Jyushin Thunder Liger. On May 8, 2010, NJPW also held a one night, single-elimination tournament, under the name Super J Tag Tournament 1st, which was won by El Samurai and Koji Kanemoto. On November 13, 2010, NJPW held the Super J Tag League, a round-robin tournament, which was won by Jado and Gedo.